We've all had those co-workers we can't stand, but most folks' problems with co-workers generally stop with them stealing lunches from the company fridge or snitching on office supply kleptomania. Former Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell has more cause than most to complain about his co-workers, because one of them actually wanted him to get knocked out of the game...and, apparently, succeeded.

Lomas Brown, a former Lions lineman, was tasked with protecting quarterback Scott Mitchell. But the seven-time Pro Bowler confessed recently to Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo that when it came to Mitchell, well, he might not have put forth his best effort on every snap. In fact, he'd send a message to his own quarterback in a way only an offensive lineman could:

"Know how I did it? Just let the [defensive] guy hit him," Brown said. "Just let the D-lineman get a shot on him. I'd make it look good. I had some actor in me."

Brown gave some more vivid, if not completely accurate, details as regards Mitchell: "We were playing Green Bay in Milwaukee. We were getting beat, 24-3, at that time and he just stunk up the place. He's throwing interceptions, just everything. So I looked at Kevin Glover, our All-Pro center and I said, 'Glove, that is it.' I said, 'I'm getting him out the game.' ... So I got the gator arms on the guy at the last minute, he got around me, he hit Scott Mitchell, he did something to his finger ... and he came out the game. Dave Krieg came in the game. We ended up losing that game, 27-24."

USA Today notes that the game, Nov. 6, 1994, actually had a slightly different score: Detroit was down 24-0 when Green Bay's Sean Jones broke Mitchell's hand on a hit. Mitchell had completed just five of 15 passes and thrown two interceptions. Krieg came in, threw three touchdowns, but the Lions lost 38-30. Krieg would lead the Lions to the playoffs, where they'd fall to the Packers in the wild-card round.

Now, lest there be any miscommunication here, Brown reiterated that he said what he meant, and meant what he said: “"I've been out of the game since '02. I don't think much can happen to me. Yes, America, yes, I did it."

Quarterbacks, a memo: do NOT make your offensive linemen unhappy. They can wreck your life in a way nobody else can.

No matter how badly your quarterback is playing, suffice to say it's a matter of pride (not to mention professional responsibility) to block your very best for Mr. Craptacular no matter how badly he's stinking up the joint. And that's what made the recent admission of former NFL lineman and current ESPN analyst Lomas Brown so surprising. Brown recently told ESPN Radio that in a 1994 game with the Detroit Lions, he whiffed a block on purpose so that Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Sean Jones could basically take quarterback Scott Mitchell out of the game.

“We were playing Green Bay in Milwaukee,” Brown said. “We were getting beat at that time and he just stunk up the place. He’s throwing interceptions, just everything. So I looked at Kevin Glover, our All-Pro center and I said, ‘Glove, that is it.’ I said, ‘I’m getting him out the game.’ . . . So I got the gator arms on the guy at the last minute, he got around me, he hit Scott Mitchell, he did something to his finger . . . and he came out the game. [Lions backup quarterback] Dave Krieg came in the game.”

Yes, Mitchell was playing horribly, and yes, Krieg did nearly lead the Lions to a comeback win. But to admit that you laid down so that one of your teammates could get hurt? It seems to be the very antithesis of the football ethos. When asked about it by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio on Wednesday's Dan Patrick Show, Mitchell used the word a lot of people must have been thinking:reprehensible.

“It just really hurt,” Mitchell said. “It was extremely disappointing. I’m really shocked by it, to be honest. Here’s a guy I’ve had in my house, I had a big dinner for the offensive linemen every year, he came to my house and ate dinner, I gave my offensive linemen gifts every year. For him to do that is just reprehensible, beyond words. It’s really disappointing, it really is painful. When you mess with my family, mess with my livelihood, mess with my health, it’s unacceptable. It’s B.S. I just wouldn’t do it to a teammate. I wouldn’t do it. If Lomas has a problem with me, come talk to me. To try to get someone hurt, it’s just mind-boggling.”

The injury ended Mitchell's season, the Lions went 5-2 down the stretch with Krieg at quarterback, and they actually made the playoffs. But Brown's admission puts a big stink on the whole thing.

Whether other players have done such things in the past or not, what's mind-boggling is that a player would ever admit it after the fact. Mitchell signed a three-year, $11 million contract with Detroit before the 1994 season based on a few good years behind Dan Marino in Miami. Things didn't pan out as planned for Mitchell, but that's still no excuse for what Brown claimed to have done.

That said ... given that Brown now works for a company that seems to want sensationalism above analysis, and given that Brown had trouble remembering some of the facts of the game, one wonders if Brown was gilding the lily a bit in order to get his name out there.

If that's the case, mission accomplished. Brown will now be remembered more for one alleged dive than for a 13-year career with seven Pro Bowl selections. And that's a shame.

He wants to win and since the teams management was sticking with a lousy QB when they had a better one riding the bench, why not let a guy through and get the better QB into the game. Sure, his job is to protect the QB, but it's also his job to help win games. The team was in a better position after he did that, so, mission complete.

Dave Krieg was a better QB, they went further into the post season than where they would have gotten with Mitchell playing, Wayne Fontes was only playing Mitchell because the GM had given this big stiff a ginormous contract after spelling Marino for a half season.

Krieg had actually been a good QB on Seattle in the past. Those 90's Lions team were their last real shot at a ring, they had the single greatest runner in NFL history in Barry Sanders and were loaded at WR... they're only flaw was the Run And Shoot offense was a finesse offense. Mel Gray was a heck of a kick returner and Benny Blades was a great safety.

The people of Detroit should thank Lomas Brown for doing what their head coach didn't have the stones to do, stand up to an interfering suit upstairs and get their best chance to win back in the game.